Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Soul Collecting FAQ

Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow - Soul Collecting FAQ
Version 1.3
Author: Redlimit
E-Mail: redlimit@hotmail.com
Version History:
----------------
Version 1.3 (May 19th, 2003)
Added the second location of the Creaking Skull soul, added hint about killing
Red Minotaurs with Killer Mantle, added a second "money trick", added in FAQ
about the Legion soul, added information about shooing fireballs while in
bat form, added the Killer Mantle to the Useful Souls section, and added in
the method to make the Headhunter soul more powerful.
Version 1.2 (May 11th, 2003)
Changed the names of Attack Souls and Status Souls to their real names (Bullet
and Enchanted), added soul needed to get past the Chronomage, added strategy
to defeat Tsuchinoko and Sky Fish, fixed wording in several sections so
information is more clear, and added in "Why should I collect 100% souls?"
question in the FAQ section.
Version 1.1 (May 9th, 2003)
Fixed several errors with spelling, added new strategy to souls, added souls
needed to get past waterfall, and added the 'money trick' for purchasing
the Soul Eater Ring. Also added some more favourite and useful souls.
Version 1.0 (May 7th, 2003)
First version of the FAQ. Complete list of all souls, and where to get them.
Also had list of useful and favourite souls.
Table Of Contents
-----------------
1) Introduction / Soul Basics
2) Frequently Asked Questions
3) Soul List - Complete Detail Guide
4) Soul Collecting Strategies
5) Useful Souls
6) End of FAQ / Credits
*REMEMBER*
Use Ctrl + F to find what you are looking for quickly and easily. With such a
long list of souls, this makes things easier if you already know the name or
number of the soul you want to find.
1-Introduction / Soul Basics--------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Castlevania: Aria Of Sorrow utilizes probably the most complex gameplay system
of any Castlevania to date, but luckily for us once you get to understand it,
you have a very high level of personal customization. This FAQ will help you
with the identification, location, and abilities of every soul power in the
game. The "tactical soul system" has a lot to it, and it is totally up to
the player to get the most out of it.
There are four main types of souls:
a) Bullet Souls (Red)
These souls perform attacks on your enemies at a fixed MP cost. Activated by
pressing Up + B at the same time.
b) Guardian Souls (Blue)
These grant you certain transformational, defensive, and offensive abilities.
Activated by pressing (sometimes holding down) the R button. They consume MP
as long as they are turned on.
c) Enchanted Souls (Yellow)
These power up and affect your status, such as Strength + 1, Luck + 1. They are
always active if you have them equipped.
d) Ability Souls (Grey)
These are always active (unless you turn them off), and grant abilities such as
the Double Jump, or the Slide. Some are activated by pressing the L button,
while others are done automatically (Double Jump by simply jumping twice).
You can equip one Bullet Soul, one Guardian Soul, and one Enchanted Soul at
any given time. Ability Souls do not need to be equipped - they are simply
turned on and off in the 'ability' section of the menu.
Each and every enemy you come across has a chance of dropping its soul when
you defeat it (even some bosses - if you only fight a boss once it will always
drop its soul because you don't get another chance when it is a regular enemy,
but the Legion boss is the only exception so read his section on the list for
further info about this). Other souls can be found by exploring the castle and
breaking "soul holders". These containers always hold certain important souls
to your quest, and always drop the same soul.
The chance of dropping a soul is random for most enemies, so you may have to
kill certain enemies quite a few times to get them. Ways of capturing souls a
bit easier will be discussed in the "Soul Collecting Strategies" part of the
FAQ.
You can collect up to 9 of every soul in the game. This is mainly for trading
purposes with a game link cable, but having more souls also makes the
Headhunter soul more powerful (every 16 souls you get, the stronger effect the
Headhunter soul has on your stats).
With all of this in mind, you are ready to go soul collecting!
2-Frequently Asked Questions--------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Why only a soul FAQ?
A: Well, I feel that collecting and using souls is the most important part of
the game, so I will just stick to that.
Q: Where can I find -insert soul name here- soul?
A: Check the Soul List section of this FAQ. Be sure to use Ctrl + F to search
through the FAQ quickly and easily.
Q: What are the most useful souls?
A: Check the Useful Soul section of the FAQ.
Q: Why should I collect 100% souls?
A: Well besides the bragging rights and the ability to use a wide variety of
soul powers, once you have 100% of the souls in the game, the most powerful
item in the game can be collected. The Chaos Ring will appear in the Chaotic
Realm for you to get. You can find it in one of the small side rooms where you
can see the space in the background (check all of them till you find it). This
ring makes it so you have an infanite ammount of MP! Very useful indeed.
Q: I missed the Legion soul! / Legion didn't drop his soul / Is there another
way to get the Legion soul?
A: Many people are having trouble with this. For starters, Legion will only
drop his soul if you knock off all 4 sections of his shell before you defeat
his core. Besides starting the game over again if you saved after the battle,
you will also get another chance to collect the soul if you start a "New Game
Plus" with your save file. Once you get the full ending (see the Useful Souls
section of this FAQ for more info on this), you have the option of choosing a
bat shaped symbol above your save file. This starts a New Game Plus, where you
will have all of the items and souls from your old game to use as you play
through the game again (minus the ability souls like Double Jump and Slide).
This means that you will fight Legion again, so you get another chance to get
his soul.
Q: You missed something! / There are errors! / I do this instead...
A: Those aren't really questions, but if there is a genuine mistake or you
have a strategy you think is better, feel free to e-mail me and I can check it
out. I will fix errors pointed out and if a strategy is better than what I
have posted I will add it, with credit given to you.
redlimit@hotmail.com